Means for attaching floor boards



o, 1.. JOHNSON MEANS FOR ATTAGHI NG FLOOR BOARDS- Filed May 4, 1932 Patented June 11, 1935 2,004,911 r MEANS For;nr'rAonrNorLooanoAnns I 0scar L, Johnson, Chicago, 111., assignon by 'mesne. assignments, of one-half-to Lug-Lox I Flooring Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois, and one-half to Leon F. Urbain,

Chicago, Ill.

Application May 4, 1932, Serial No. ti09,059'

. 8 Claims;

There has recently been developed a floor...in which boards arelaid edge to edge upon troughlike supporting strips; being held down by: clips that are interlocked with the strips, extend up into the joints between the boardsv and are interlocked at their upper ends with the boards. The present invention relates to this type of floor construction and has for its object to improve the same.

Heretofore the floor boards have had in their long edges grooves placed there solely for the purpose of receiving flanges on the clips; thus requiring boards that difier considerably, in construction from the ordinary, highlysatisfactory tongue and groove boards. Specifically considered, the present invention may be said to havefor its object to make it possible quickly. and easily to secure tongued and grooved boards, substantially like :those that have long been in use,;to-a'n underlying foundation by .means of clips entered into the joints between the boards. I

Whilethe invention'is particularly adapted for ,use in connection'with floors, it will, of course, be understood thatit may be employed wherever a structure, composed. of ,boards laid edge 'toedge is to be laid upon or against afoundation or wall. The various features of novelty whereby my invention is-cha'racterized willhereinafter be point- ;ed out with particularity in the claimsjbut, for ,a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection. with the. accompanying ,drawing, whereinr i 1' Figure 1 is a vertical section, taken transversely of the floor boards,,throug'h a floor embodying my invention, the section being on a plane represented by line ll of Fig. 2; Fig.3.2 is..a section on line -22 of Fig. 1,.the tonguesand clips being shown in elevation and the end and middle portions of the floor'being omitted; Fig.13'is a section, on a much larger scalethan Figs. 1 and 2,:online 3,3v of Fig; 2, onlya small fragment being shown; and Figs, 4, 5 and 6 are, respectively, a top plan view,.ian end'view, and ;a side elevation .of one of my improved. clips. r In the drawing Lhave illustrated my invention .as applied to a floor and, for the sake of brevity, the detailed "description will be confined to this particular embodiment, as the principle of the invention is the same whether the boards lie in a horizontal plane, in a vertical plane, or at an angle to the vertical or whether they'lie above or below or besidethe supporter-foundation therefor. :f Y

Referring to the drawing, I represent shallow metal troughs 'or channels each having theupper marginal portions of its side walls turned inwardly to form horizontal flanges 2. The members 'I. are secured to Fan underlying floor or supporting 5 structure 3. The flooring proper consists of boards 4, 4 laid edge to edge uponthe members .I, crosswise of the latter; the members I and the supporting structure 3 therefore serving. as. the foundation for the floor. The floor boards are 10 substantially the same astheordinary tongued' and grooved boards in common use; each board having at .one long edge a tongue. 5 and at the opposite long-edge a groove 6. r

' .Theboardsare held to the foundation and in .close contact witheach other by means of clips interlocked.- with the metal channel members for sliding movements along the latter while being held against vertical movements these clips rising up into the joints between the boards, partly-embracingthe tongues, and nestedin the grooves. Therefore, each clip, through engagementwith a tongue on one board, holds the corresponding 'side of that board down whereas, because it is nested in the grooveflof' theadj'acent board, it holds that side of tli'e'latter board. down. In other words, each board is engaged by two rows ,of clips, arow at each edge. e

The details of the clipsare best shown in Figs. 4 5 and Eachclip is preferably madeof sheet metal properly cut and bent; to produce a'flat body portion l and a trough lik e or hooked tongue-engaging portion 8 The lower part 9 of the body portion of the clip. is made approximately as wide as the internal width of one of themetal ,channelsl Atadietance above the lower edge of the clip equal to the vertical interior depth of one of the metal channels beneath the flanges on .thelatteryare-two notches 10,; Ill cut in- 40 wardly from-the side edges; the distance between the inner ends of -the two notches being somewhat less than the distance betweenthe inner edges, of the two fiangeson one of the metal supporting strips. Therefore, the clip may be entered through the end of one of the metal supporting strips, or through the top, the sections 9 underlying the flanges which,in turn, are received the notches I0. Theflatportionll above the notches has a vertical height approximately equal .to the shortest distance fromthe plane of the under face of one of the floor boards to the tongue on that board. Thehook-shaped-part 8 onthe clipprojects; laterally from what maybe termed ;;the upper long edge of the part'l I, and sjshaped width :of the tongue.

I to lie against the under side of a tongue on one board just below the tongue with which the clip is engaged. In other words, the body portionof the board does not interferewith the clip in the process of forcing the hook portionthereof tightly upon the tongue. Furthermore, the hook portion of the clip is so shaped that, when it is pressed tightly upon the tongue, it bites into the upper face of the latter and thus'serves to draw the" board tightly against theunderlying foundation.

Although the free end of thehookis shbw'ri as s extending a short distance inwardly over the top of the tongue, the biting of the free end 'of the hook into the tongue leaves the latter free from upward projections on the upper side; and there- 'fore the clips do not interfere. with the normal surface contact between the tongue and the overlying portion of the adjacent board, but this contact iseffective throughout the entire length and While the edge face 12 of the board is set back so as not to engage with the clip, the corresponding edgeface l3, on the opposite side of the board, is advanced far enough to engage the part i l, namely, the upperportion of the flat section of the clip, at the time that the'hook portion of the clip is seated in the groove just above the edge face 13. Furthermore, the edge facev I8 is preferably inclined downwardly and outwardly from thegrooveof the board to the bottom face-of the board so that, when the floor has been laid, the flat body portions of the clips are-canted somewhat, as best shown inFig. 3, so as to cause sharp edges 1 a 9 11, 93 383 35 un sides of the flanges on the metal supporting pieces,

. while sharpe edges on the parts I I are caused to be pressed against the'top faces ofthe flanges.

In other Words, the clips' arelo'cked to the foundation so as to leave not the slightest looseness which would permit theboardsto' move up and down ever so slightly.

In laying the floorQ-the metal supports are first secured to the supporting structure. The first board is laid crosswise'of the metal supports and-then clips are inserted and'moved along the t1 oughs or channels until they are engaged with the tongue on the board. The next boardis then laid on the supp rts and driven'toward'the first board until the joint between the two boards is closed, as viewed from above. This second board, in its movement toward the first board,

comes first into engagement with the row of 'clips, carrying these clips with it-until the clips are firmly driven home over the tongues. Other boards are then laid, one after another, until the floor is completed. 5 i

It will thus be seen that I amable to secure boards having tongues-and grooves, subst'antially like those in common use, by means of clips ing any attention to be paidby the workman to the clips themselves. Therefore} it is possible not only to laya wooden floorwhere-this has not heretofore been practicable, but a floor may actually be laid in less time than is required for an ordinary nailed floor.

While I have illustratedand described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire tobe limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and ar- I claim: 7

1. In a floor, afoundation, boards laid edge to edge onsaid foundation and joined by tongues and grooves, clips'rising from the foundation and interlocked therewith for sliding movements at .rangements which come within the 'definitions' of my invention constituting the appended right angles to said tongues and grooves and against vertical movements, each clip having a hook part at the upper end embracing the edge of and biting into the top of one of said tongues and nested in the groove in which that tongue is engaged, and. the effective length of each clip from the upper. face of said foundation to the clip of thehook being such that, when the hook is forced upon the edge of a tongue, the tip of the hook is compelled tosink into the tongue after the board has been firmly seated on the foundation. i

2. In a floor, a foundation, a tongued and grooved board resting on said foundation, a clip anchored to the foundation against vertical movements while free to move at right angles to; the long edge of said board, said clip having at the upper end a part shaped to embrace the outer portion only ofthe tongue and bite into the top thereof and exert a downward pull on the tongue when forced upon the tongue, and said .tongueeengaging parton theclip being adapted to nest in the groove of a secondgboard which receives the tongue on the first board.

3. In a floor, paralleltrough-shaped founda tion -mer'nbers having inwardly turned flanges at the" upper long edges of'their side walls,

joint between two of, the boards'and fitting over the tongue: and nested in the groove forming part; of that joint, and each board being widened on the: grooved side whereby the clips are caused *tongued and grooved boards resting on and crosswise of said foundation members, clips ris- T to be canted'and locked tightly to the foundation 'memberswhen the boards are forced into close contact with each other.

- 4. In a floor, parallel trough-shaped rounde 'tion members having inwardly turned flanges at the, upper long edges of their side walls, tongued and grooved boards resting on and crosswiseof said foundation members, clips rising from the foundation members'and each'hav- .ing. in. opposite edges notches to receive "the flanges of the corresponding foundation'membe'r and lock the clip against vertical movement while permitting it to slide lengthwise of its founda- :tion member, each clip extending intothe joint between two of the boards and nested inthe lower portion of the groove forming a part of that joint, the upper free end ofeach clip'being interlocked with the adjacent tongue so that a downward pull'on the clip exerts a downward pull on the tongue, and each board being narr'owedon "ii;

the tongue side below the tongue whereby clips are caused to be canted and locked tightly to the foundation members when the boards are forced into close contact with each other.

5. In a floor, parallel trough-shaped foundation members having inwardly turned flanges at the upper long edges of their side walls, tongued and grooved boards resting onand crosswise of said foundation members, clips rising from the foundation members and each having in opposite edges notches to receive the flanges of the corresponding foundation member and lock the clip against vertical movement whilepermitting it to slide lengthwise of its foundation member, each clip extending into the joint between two of the boards and into the groove and into interlocking relation with the tongue forming that joint, the meeting edges of the boards below the tongues and grooves being shaped to permit the clips to be canted and locked tightly to the foundation members when the boards are forced into close contact with each other.

6. In a floor, the combination of a supporting channel the legs of which have upper inwardly-'- directed flanges, a plurality of floor boards resting crosswise on the channel, a plurality of clips for securing the floor boards to'the channel, each clip having an upper portion extending between adjacent floor boards and engaging therewith to hold them down on the channel, and a lower portion interlocked with the channel against vertical movement with respect thereto, and means for canting the clips from the vertical, as the floor boards are forced into engagement, to cause said clips to bind upon the flanges of the channel and thus prevent displacement lengthwise of the channel.

'7. In a floor, the combination of a supporting channel the legs of which have upper inwardlydirected flanges, a plurality of floor boards rest,-

ing crosswise on the channel, a plurality of clips for securing the floor boards to the channel, each clip having an upper portion extending between adjacent floor boards and engaging therewith to hold them down on the channel, and a lower portion interlocked with the channel and having notches receiving said flanges, and means for canting said clips from the vertical, as the floor boards are forced into engagement, to cause the walls of said notches to bind on said flanges and thus prevent displacement of the clips lengthwise of the channel. I

8. In a floor, the combination of a supporting channel the legs of which have upper inwardlydirected flanges, a plurality of floor boards resting crosswise on the channel and having tongues.

and grooves interengaging' to interlock the boards, a plurality of clips for securing the floor boards to the channel, each clip having an upper hook-like portion engaging a tongue and seated in the corresponding groove to hold the boards down on the channel, and a lower portion interlocked with the channel and having notches receiving said flanges, and means for canting the clips from the vertical, as the floor boards are forced into tongue and groove' engagement, to cause the'walls of said notches to bind on said flanges and thus prevent displacement of the clips lengthwise of the channel.

- OSCAR L. JOHNSON. 

